Coughlin Gets a Reprieve

Co-Owner Says Coach Will Be Back Despite Second Straight Playoff-Less Season

By

Aditi Kinkhabwala

Updated Jan. 3, 2011 12:01 a.m. ET

ENLARGE

The Giants' Brandon Jacobs plows for extra yardage in the second quarter.
Reuters

LANDOVER, Md.—In the end, Giants co-owner and President John Mara had already told the one person who needed to know Tom Coughlin's fate as the Giants' head coach: Tom Coughlin.

Standing in a subdued winning locker room Sunday at FedEx Field, Mr. Mara repeated publicly what he'd said to Mr. Coughlin in a private conversation back in New Jersey earlier this week. Yes, the Giants are missing the playoffs for a second straight year, but yes, Mr. Coughlin will be the Giants coach next year.

"We know this guy is a good coach and we want him to lead us next season," Mr. Mara said as players and staffers packed up all around him following the Giants' season-ending, 17-14 win over the Redskins.

It was their 10th win, but there still won't be anymore to this season for the Giants. With an interception in the final seconds in Green Bay, the Packers sealed a 10-3 win over the Bears, taking the last of the NFC's Wild Card spots, leaving the Giants out in the cold—and forcing this very public affirmation of Mr. Coughlin.

"In this society everyone wants to fire the coach. The Yankees get knocked off in the playoffs, everyone wants to fire the manager," Mr. Mara said. "That's not going to happen here. We don't do that here."

"He's going to be our coach," he went on. "I believe in the guy. I believe in stability. You can't build anything if you're constantly making changes and firing people. That's just not our culture. It's just not what we believe in."

It will certainly quiet the noise that had hit a fevered pitch leading into this game. Just three weeks ago, the Giants' were NFC favorites and Super Bowl contenders. Then they suffered a 28-point, fourth-quarter meltdown against the Eagles. They lost horridly in a win-and-in-the-playoffs game at Green Bay last week, and they lost control of their own postseason destiny.

"This is my first time being on a team with 10 wins and not making the playoffs," said linebacker Keith Bulluck, an 11-year veteran. It's actually the 19th time a team with 10 wins was closed out of the postseason since the league expanded to a 16-game schedule in 1978 and that, Mr. Bulluck said, "just proves you have to take care of your business when you can take care of your business.''

That the Giants didn't is why Mr. Coughlin had to quell repeated questions about his job status this week, and why his players spent the same time alternately defending and championing their coach.

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Unbeknownst to them, though, Mr. Mara had seen Mr. Coughlin this week and was, the coach said Sunday—after Mr. Mara had spoken—"very, very supportive." Mr. Mara said he'd refused to say the same publicly until season's end because weekly status reports "set a bad precedent," and Mr. Coughlin said he understood that.

Still, dressed in a gray suit and carrying his work bag Sunday night, the 64-year-old coach acknowledged there's a comfort that the football world has now heard what he alone heard.

"John coming out at this point in time and making very clear to everyone is greatly appreciated by me and my family and I hope by our team," he said.

In seven years in New York and one very loud previous public call for his firing—in 2006, the year before he led the Giants to a stunning Super Bowl upset of the then-undefeated Patriots— Mr. Coughlin has always refused to show any vulnerability to the speculation around him. On this night, though, he did laugh at the vagaries of a 10-win season prompting calls for a housecleaning.

"I do know every time we lose a game, you better get your 'for sale' sign out," he said. Shaking his head, he chuckled and said, "Who likes that? Who appreciates that?"

But it is hard to put this season into some perspective. The Giants stuttered to a 1-2 start, rebounded to rattle off five straight wins and become an early-talked-about Super Bowl contender. Then, after another stutter and rebound, they seemed poised for greatness, rocking out to a 31-10, fourth-quarter lead over the rival Eagles on Dec. 19.

In five quarters of football, though, everything changed. The Giants lost 38-31 to the Eagles on a walk-off punt return. They were blasted 45-17 in a win-and-in game at Green Bay last week.

So Sunday, with the Redskins media operator first taking the Bears-Packers real-time updates out of its out-of-town scores rotation on the FedEx scoreboard and then gleefully showing the Packers' first touchdown and final interception, the Giants were left bystanders.

They did make plays. Eli Manning and Mario Manningham hooked up for a stunning 92-yard touchdown to open the second half. Defensive end Osi Umneyiora forced two fumbles. Jonathan Goff forced another at the Giants' 10-yard line, Mr. Bulluck picked off a pass. And even though the game left a better taste than last year's 8-8 out-of-the-playoffs end, running back Ahmad Bradshaw said he didn't know how he could possibly follow Mr. Coughlin's directive to at least enjoy the accomplishment of the 10th win.

If there is one positive to take home, he said it's that he gets to try again next year with Mr. Coughlin.

"You know what, I love playing for him. He's a great coach. He prepares us for everything. He loves the game. He has a lot of passion for the game," Mr. Bradshaw said. "I give anything, whatever I have, to play under him."

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